General Meeting of the Alta Parana Mission by J. W. Westphal

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 23, 1908

_General Meeting of the Alta Parana Mission_

By J. W. Westphal

THE first general meeting of the Alta Parana Mission was held at Santa Ana, Missiones, a few hours by boat above Posadas. In plain view from our tent across a creek was the ancient flourishing Jesuit mission of the same name, a forest of orange and other trees marking the spot. Leading to it was a bridge of solid stone, the ruins of which still serve to dam the stream. In this stream I had the privilege of baptizing five precious souls. It is probable that, with few exceptions, the country does not look very different from what it did when inhabited by the Indians, before the entrance of the Jesuit missionaries. The population is much less than it was then. Thousands were taken to the slave markets of Sao Paulo and other points in Brazil, while others have fled from the face of the white man. In the dusky face of the native, his physiognomy, and in his language, his descent is easily traceable to the ancient red monarch of the Americas. The average native hut may not be very different from those occupied by his ancestors. They are a simple, kind-hearted people among whom one seldom fails to find a welcome. The vices brought by the “pale faces” of Europe have served to lower their moral condition. The attendance of our brethren at the meeting ranged from thirty to sixty.

about equally divided between natives and German-speaking people. The laborers present were the superintendent, Elder Luis Ernst; Elder John Lipke, president of the neighboring Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) Conference, and the writer. As all but the evening services had to be translated, we were kept very busy. At the close of the meeting the brethren heartily and unanimously voted that such a meeting should be held annually in this field. Owing to the scattered condition of our people and the consequent difficulty in instructing them and developing in them other ideas and principles, this is a most desirable arrangement. It will also serve to unite more closely the brethren in the Alta Parana Mission in the great work before us, and will be the means of bringing rich blessings to God’s people.

The best evidence of the blessings received was the way the brethren took hold to raise means for the purchase of a tent for these annual meetings. For the present occasion they had borrowed a tent from the Argentine Conference. In a few minutes, and without any urging whatever, nearly two hundred dollars was either pledged or promised. The brethren are all very poor. Some had but recently come from Brazil, and are still passing through the hardships of a pioneer experience. The result was a complete but happy surprise. At least three hundred dollars will be needed to place a forty-foot tent in the field. It is hoped that brethren who were not present will materially augment the sum raised.

The brethren went home with glad hearts. I greatly enjoyed this privilege with the brethren in Missiones. Elder Lipke rendered valuable help in preaching to the people.

J. W. WESTPHAL.